BIO

I am a current freshman and Presidential Scholar studying Biological Sciences. I am from Miami, FL and have an interest in ecology and wildlife biology.

Effect of Harvest Treatment on Lipid Content in Hybridized Heterandria formosa

Abstract

The Least Killifish (Heterandria formosa) is a species native to the coastal plains of the Southeastern United States and is known as the world’s smallest live-bearing fish. Due to its fast reproduction and generation times, H. formosa are excellent model organisms and can show physical and genetic changes in a short time span. Two populations were interbred to create a genetically diverse H. formosa used for experimentation. By subjecting hybridized H. formosa to varying treatments, we assume that lipid content will differ across food availability and harvest type. Fish in size-selective harvest tanks are predicted to have higher lipid content due to reduced competition for food. These fish were dried and crushed and underwent lipid extraction. Fish in selective harvest tanks tended to be slightly heavier than those in non-selective harvest tanks, whereas fish undergoing variable food treatment were slightly lighter than those receiving constant food. As expected, heavier males tended to have higher lipid content than their lighter counterparts. After undergoing selective harvest, the remaining fish in these tanks are the smallest 40% in the population and have experienced a decline in population. These fish receive more food comparative to their body size, as both selective and non-selective tanks receive the same amount of food. This allows selective harvest fish to store more food as reversible mass. Though lipid content was a small percentage of overall weight, lipid content was shown to be higher in fish with higher length to weight ratios.

Keywords: Lipid Heterandria Harvest treatment fish